Wednesday, December 10, 2008

The Columbus Crew is a professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio that participates in Major League Soccer. Super fan and designer, Gabe Shultz, is rallying for an updated Crew logo. He believes that after 12 years and a series of team successes, that the logo needs a revamp to mirror the spirit of the team.

To start, let's look at the original logo (left). Not bad. Nice color palette. It's a sports logo...what can you really say. After 12 year does this logo really need a redesign? Gabe states, on his facebook page, "The purpose of this group is to catch the attention of Crew management to let them know the movement is out there. It's not a chastising of our current logo… I appreciate the passion and attachment people feel for the old look. This is simply a refresh."

His new, proposed, artwork is on the right. Vary similar. Nice simplifications, however (in my opinion) completely unnecessary. I like your heart Gabe, but the Columbus Crew logo does not need a redesign. Redesigns are for companies or organizations that have one of the following: a) an outdated design b) mission of the company has changed or c) company name has changed. Redesigning a logo is very costly, particularly for a major league sports team and can be confusing to fans. Perhaps if the MLS Crew had difficultly getting fans in their seats, or an outpouring of logo hatred a redesign would be justified. In this case, let The Crew stay The Crew.••••

3 comments:

I disagree. Well, sort of. I agree that it's a fine logo but I don't think it says soccer. This is just me but I think the older logo looks like a badge for a chip and dale business where the men dress up like firemen. Does anyone else see this? Party time? Thoughts? I actually like the newer one better because it looks more like a work crew...

The proposed new design looks a little too 'Stalinistic' for me. The way the players are shadowed along with the font and star looks like propaganda posters from the USSR...does anyone else see that? Leave well enough alone.